


Pictures Of You

by joufancyhuh



Series: The Heavens Will Fall [3]
Category: Mass Effect Trilogy
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Set Before Alchera
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-12-06
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-09-13 00:56:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 571
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16882581
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/joufancyhuh/pseuds/joufancyhuh
Summary: Shepard and Kaidan look over pictures.





	Pictures Of You

“The pictures are in.” 

Kaidan looks confused for a minute, as if trying to decipher the reason Blake had called him into her cabin like it was encrypted. He meanders over to stand behind her desk chair, hands planted on both shoulders as he leans down to peer at her screen. 

They’re all from the victory party that was thrown together in haste after Sovereign’s defeat. The Citadel may have been hurting, but they sure weren’t, and the crew of the Normandy knew how to party to prove it. She scanned through them beforehand; Kaidan had been awfully brazen that night, finding reasons to touch an arm or leg or waist. She wanted to make sure that none of that was captured by the drone. She’d rather avoid that awkward conversation with Anderson if she could help it. 

The photo she has on the screen is of them, her favorite out of all the ones taken. There were a bunch of her talking sternly to Kaidan in various parts of the night, his face growing redder in each photograph from the champagne. This one though she loves in a way she can’t describe to him. 

She is looking at the camera, smiling a real smile and not a posed one. She’s never seen a photograph of herself that wasn’t work related, and she can’t seem to get past the fact that she looks  _happy_ , a happiness that doesn’t strike home with her until she looks at herself sitting at this table. Kaidan has an arm around her shoulder in a way they can pass off as just friendly. His eyes are on the camera but his head is tilted in her direction, and she sees the slope of his arm leading under the table. 

She reflects back on how, in that moment, Kaidan’s fingers were playing with hers on her lap and in a few minutes after the photo, they disappear below deck where it’s quiet and dark. Kaidan teaches he how to dance as he glows ever so slightly blue. They finish off a bottle of champagne, just the two of them, and her head feels fizzy as he knocks his lips against hers before they have to hide from Adams up on a crate. Kaidan and her place their hands over each other’s mouths as they try not to giggle. She wants a picture of that, but this will do. 

She places her own hand over Kaidan’s and squeezes. “I ordered us both a copy.” They both glow happiness from their expressions in the photo; she wonders if anyone else will see it and know their truth. Kaidan pushes down into her  shoulders as he plants a kiss on her cheek. 

* * *

When her copy comes, she realizes the fallacy of this plan. She can’t very well keep it in a frame around her quarters. Any place she puts it risks discovery, and then try explaining why you have a photograph of you and “just a friend” hanging around. 

Instead, she folds it and sticks it in her bra. The sharp corners stick her breast,so she maneuvers it more to the front where it fits comfortably. On the first mission out with it, she’s grateful it’s there. When Kaidan glances her way, she imagines that she can feel heat radiating out from it, her body flooding with the heat of happiness. She wonders where Kaidan ended up keeping his. 


End file.
